money laundering

ING employees can look forward to "significantly" lower bonuses this year, even though the bank is doing well with more clients and turnover. The bonuses will be lower due to a settlement of 775 million euros the bank had to pay last year for failing to monitor money laundering, NOS reports.

State Secretary Tamara van Ark of Social Affairs and Employment called on the public to report abuses in nail salons in the Netherlands. There are signals of human trafficking and exploitation in the fast growing sector. "The Inspectorate works through reports, then they can intervene. It is therefore important that we all keep our eyes open, because we can not do it alone", she said to NOS.

Two police officers are suspects in a criminal investigation into an organized network involved in large-scale cannabis cultivation and trade in Almelo. They are accused of violating their official confidentiality and belonging to a criminal organization. Both officers have been suspended, ANP reports.

Mayor Femke Halsema invited a group of Amsterdam retailers to the city hall on Friday to discuss how they can reduce cash transactions. The Public Prosecutor and the Tax Authority will also take part in the meeting, the Telegraaf reports.

In her invitation, sent on Monday, Halsema points to the criminal use of cash. "Because cash leaves no traces, it is misused by non-honest consumers to launder illegally obtained funds", she wrote. She believes that fewer cash transactions could lead to a safer city.

The Satudarah chapter in Geleen threatened to commit a slaughter in the city if the police raided the outlaw motorcycle gang's clubhouse. Messages intercepted by the police show that the motorcycle gang threatened to throw hand grenades into a bar with a hundred or more people inside, was revealed during the first hearing against seven members of Satudarah Geleen on Monday, NU.nl reports.

Business man Bill Browder pressed money laundering charges against a number of banks and businesses in the Netherlands. The Pubic Prosecutor is currently investigating the charges to see if criminal prosecution is justified, RTL Nieuws reports.

In 2014 PostNL CEO Herna Verhagen was warned about the vulnerability of courier- and parcel delivery companies, according to the newspaper. These businesses are vulnerable to threats, intimidation, money laundering, drug trafficking and and bribery, FD writes.

A 24-year-old in Amsterdam maybe took the term money laundering too literally. The police found 350 thousand euros in cash in his washing machine. He was arrested on suspicion of money laundering, Het Parool reports.

The money was found while the police searched the home on Oeverpad in Amsterdam Nieuw-West, which is supposed to be vacant according to municipal records. The suspect was in the home at the time and arrested.

In addition to the cash, the police also found a firearm, money counting machines and a number of mobile phones.

The Dutch police made a breakthrough in intercepting encrypted messages between criminals. They gained access to the server of chat app Ironchat and could read messages sent between criminals as they were sent, the police announced on Tuesday afternoon. Over a hundred suspects were identified and many arrests will follow, NU.nl reports.

Amsterdam is using a new method to crack down on money laundering in the hospitality industry. The administrative court ruled that the burden of evidence can be switched. Which means that Amsterdam can ask new restaurants or pubs to prove their money is clean before issuing a permit, NOS reports.

Every year around 16 billion euros is laundered in the Netherlands, 90 percent of which come from drug trafficking and fraud, researchers at Utrecht University found in a study commissioned by the the scientific research and documentation center WODC. Fraud is increasing and the under- and upper world are becoming increasingly intertwined, the researchers warned in Trouw.

The court in Breda sentenced Klaas Otto, founder of outlaw motorcycle gang No Surrender, to six years in prison on Thursday. He was found guilty of extortion, assaulting and threatening two car dealers, and laundering 1.3 million euros, NOS reports.

Multiple banks under the supervision of Dutch central bank DNB are too lax when it comes to countering money laundering, according to the regulator. Minister Wopke Hoekstra of Finance asked the DNB to look into this after ING was slapped with a massive settlement for this same reason. He informed parliament about the results of the DNB investigation on Tuesday, ANP reports.

The Public Prosecutor reached a settlement of 775 million euros with ING. The bank allowed customers to abuse their accounts for the laundering of hundreds of millions of euros between 2010 and 2016, NOS reports.

The amount of the settlement consists of a 675 million euros fine and a reimbursement of 100 million euros. According to the Public Prosecutor, ING did not properly fulfill its role as gatekeeper of the financial system and was negligent in preventing money laundering.

The police 2.2 million euros in cash last week during a search in Dido Events center in Amsterdam-West. Multiple members of the family that runs the event center were arrested on suspicion of money laundering and weapons possession, De Telegraaf reports.

According to the newspaper, the authorities previously kept an eye on Dido because of many known criminals attending parties at the center. The center was closed for a time, but reopened early last year and was soon filled with members of the Dutch underworld, the Telegraaf writes.

The Public Prosecutor calculated that Noord-Brabant coffeeshop chain The Grass Company's illegal turnover amounted to over 20 million euros. The Prosecutor wants the company to pay that entire amount back, the company's lawyer Sidney Smeets confirmed to ANP after reports in Brabants Dagblad.

The Public Prosecutor confirmed that a confiscation procedure has been initiated, but would not say anything about the amount involved, according to the news wire.

The Belgian branch of ABN Amro ignored signals that controversial clients may be involved in money laundering and did not do any extra research into these clients because of such signals, Trouw reported on Wednesday based on internal ABN Amro emails the newspaper has in its possession.

Mossack Fonseca, the Panamanian company that stood central in in the Panama Papers scandal, did not know who its customers were in many cases. A new leak from the company contains 180 new Dutch names, NOS reports.

The police arrested three men in Rotterdam for money laundering after discovering 220 thousand euros in cash in a trash can in a home on Philip Vingboonsstraat.

Surveillance officers spotted a suspicious car on Boezemweg on Tuesday evening. They decided to follow the car. On Philip Vingboonsstraat the passenger of the car got out, took a package from a man at the door of a home, and got back into the car.

Dutch banks and insurers will soon place all prominent politicians and their immediate families under stricter supervision in an effort to prevent bribery, fraud and support to terrorists. Financial institutions will receive the instruction to keep a closer eye on the Netherlands' rulers this summer, newspaper AD reports.

Any transactions that raise suspicions of, for example, money laundering or taking bribes must be immediately reported to the Financial Intelligence Unit Nederland, which falls under the National Police.

An employee of the police was suspended in a malpractice investigation into police union ANPV, a police spokesperson confirmed to ANP. Two former board members of the union are suspects in this case.

The police spokesperson would not tell ANP who the suspended employee is. The Telegraaf identifies the employee as Leatitia R., a former board member of ANPV who is currently working with job applicants at the police. According to the newspaper, she is suspected of embezzlement, money laundering and forgery.

A cryptocurrency farm was found in a commercial building on Kempenbaan in Rijen on Wednesday. The tenant, a 37-year-old man from Tilburg, was arrested on suspicion of theft of electricity and money laundering, BN De Stem reports.

The police decided to look into the building due to its extremely high electricity consumption. "We were actually expecting to find a cannabis farm", a spokesperson said to the newspaper. Instead, officers found dozens of computers in the warehouse, all mining cryptocurrencies.

On Tuesday the police and municipality of Amsterdam searched over 40 homes on Houtmankade as part of a joint action against housing fraud, money laundering, identity fraud and drug trafficking. A total of seven people were arrested, the police said in a statement.

The homes visited are all located in a housing block on Houtmankade and Houtmanstraat. The homes were visited based on signals received by the municipality.

Three people were arrested on suspicion of money laundering. Four others were arrested for hard drug possession.